Illyana stared into the bathroom mirror and saw someone else staring back.

Alarie had taken ‘dolled up’ to a new level. There was an abundance of product smeared over Illyana’s face, from the tan goop called 'foundation’, to the ruby red lipstick. Then there was the sticky, dark, thick mascara she couldn’t touch without it looking like she spilled ink on her hands. Even her cheeks were powdered in a heavy red blush. She never wore this much makeup.

“It looks good, don’t worry,” Alarie assured and leaned closer to her reflection to touch up her own face. Alarie made it look so easy—she had been a practiced magician with the stuff since she was in junior high. She puckered her plump lips and made a kissing face at herself before smiling and turning to Illyana who still silently eyed her made-up mirror-self.

“You should be irresistible to any man down there now,” Alarie said and grabbed Illyana’s arm to lead her out of the bathroom. Illyana wasn’t sure if that was a true statement and couldn’t help but feel a pinch offended.

“So I repulse men otherwise?”

“You said it, not me,” Alarie replied and made sure to check that she had the hotel key card on her before they went down to the casino. Alarie was wearing a tight red and black dress and impossible shoes which Illyana couldn’t understand the point of. Illyana just had worn what she brought that was best–a striped tank and a crocheted grey vest. However, Alarie insisted on letting Illyana borrow a necklace to give the outfit a little flair.

Alarie had also spent an hour straightening and taming Illyana’s naturally wavy hair by slicking and braiding a portion of it before gathering the rest into a ponytail. It felt like they had spent the last two hours in hair and makeup for maybe that much time or less down in public. Illyana hated wasting time, and this whole beauty routine seemed like the worst way to do it.

The casino floor was busy. There were bright flashing lights and ringing sounds every few minutes from the line of slot machines in the middle. Illyana had never been properly gambling before and felt a bit apprehensive. She didn’t even have that much money and what was the point of blowing it on a slim chance at making more?

They approached an exchange counter where Alarie gave simoleons to a teller and received chips of equal value in return. Illyana only could afford two green ones equal to 20 simoleons.

“That can get you like two low-ranked games of poker,” Alarie said as Illyana held the pair of chips up in each hand, looking for guidance. She felt so lost in this particular world.


“Look, there’s an open spot at that poker table,” Alarie pointed to the corner. The poker table in question was a four-seater and slightly elevated above the rest of the casino floor. It invoked a sense of privacy that Alarie obviously didn’t catch the hint of. It had three players occupying it–there was a woman who looked like she was past her formative years who was shuffling a deck of cards while smoking and two younger men were her playing companions.

Alarie added in a low whisper, “The guys are pretty cute.”

Illyana rolled her eyes, still not convinced that she needed a rebound to take her thoughts away from Adam. She just needed time.

“Hey! You want a fourth player?” Alarie called out to the group.

The lady gave a short laugh under her breath, “If you have the minimum bet, sure you can join.”

Usually, there were signs for minimum bets, at least on the bigger poker tables they had seen. This one didn’t even have a distinctive house player representing the casino itself. There was no indication of what the minimum bet was. Alarie nudged Illyana forward despite the lack of information and handed her 10 of her own chips. One hundred simoleons. That should cover it, right?

Illyana opened her mouth about to inquire what the minimum bet was when the lady turned an eye on them, “If you have to ask, honey, this table isn’t for you.”


One of the men stood from where he sat and looked over at them, “I could spot the chips, what’s the worst that could happen?” he looked toward the older woman, “I lose it to you, Mags, and you just gamble it all back for me to win. If Taz manages to win it, well he wouldn’t know what to do with it.”

The man turned to his friend and gave him a playful hit on the shoulder, to which they both laughed and then faced the two women again. “So, which of you wants to play?”

“She’d love to!” Alarie all but pushed Illyana up the stairs and then said, “I’ll be playing craps, good luck!”

So Alarie was just going to leave her there with complete strangers? Illyana wasn’t a shy person but anyone could imagine it was uncomfortable betting money with unfamiliar people. They all seemed to know each other at least and Illyana suddenly felt like she was intruding.

“Well, take a seat then,” the same man who offered to spot her nodded at the empty chair and sat back into his. He shoved 3 stacks of speckled red and white chips piled in 10 high columns each in her direction. “Mags, it’s your deal.”


“You any good?” she asked Illyana.

“I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve ever played before…” Illyana answered and Mags looked pretty happy about that fact; the man frowned, and Illyana’s eyes widened as she scrambled to cover her blundering honesty, “I mean, I’ve never played with people! I’ve played computer simulations of the game, and I know the rules and I know what hands are worth more.”

“You got yourself a greenhorn, Tony,” the man named Taz laughed as he picked up his hand of cards that Mags had dealt.

“She could have beginner’s luck,” Tony argued to which Taz scoffed as if he didn’t believe in such a thing.

Tony looked like a man who put too much faith in the concept of luck. Illyana had a few too many hard knocks in life to truly ever blame them on bad luck, and by the same hand, the good things she liked to think she had control of and it didn’t come from an arbitrary entity that acted so random in what it favored. It was awful to think one couldn’t take hold and make good things happen to themselves.

She picked up her hand and found two kings, a five, eight, and nine.

She twisted her face with uncertainty and then noticed the man—Tony—was staring at her. “What?”

“That’s your poker face?” He asked dubiously, his voice edged in a teasing tone. She immediately relaxed her face, forgetting that was an aspect of playing with people. Computers couldn’t read emotions. Maybe that’s why she found it so easy.

She could tell they all were seasoned gamblers, and Tony seemed like the type of man to always win and he hadn’t even laid his hand yet. This thought alone provoked that tiny competitive fire, deep in the center of her, to ignite.

She laid down her three discards and hoped the replacements would be something better.

The woman named Mags collected her cards and flipped three new ones face-down for her.

This time, it was another king and two tens.

Illyana nearly grinned but caught herself, remembering not to give it away. She wanted the others to bet, to think they were going to win—then she would swoop in with her full house and win it all!

“Raise?” Mags asked, nodding at Illyana.

Illyana didn’t know how much the chips Tony had given her were worth exactly and so pushed two forward which prompted him to whistle and say, “You must be confident in what you have.”

“Why?”

“You just raised the bet by a thousand simoleons.”

Illyana blanched. Why would he have spotted her that much? She had at least ten thousand simoleons worth of chips right in front of her!

“Did you mean to bet the red ones?” He asked.

She nodded, though it was obvious she hadn’t a clue they were worth five hundred Simoleons each. She still had a good hand and figured she could win.

Tony raised the bet by five hundred. Taz did by another grand. Illyana started to feel perspiration form on her forehead. That was a lot of money. Mags folded.

“Ley 'em,” Mags demanded and they did.

A quick scan of the table rendered Taz’s hand a two pair—fives and eights–and Tony’s was a flush of spades.

Tony made some noise at losing his flush out to Illyana’s full house as Illyana scraped up all the chips at the center of the table and started stacking them into neat towers. That competitive fire in her was growing ever larger now that she had won her first ever hand.

“Again,” she smiled and Taz became the dealer.


Five hands later, Illyana was 4-1. She had gotten a little too enthusiastic about a straight and over-bet—losing fifteen hundred back to Tony. So, it wasn’t too concerning but she hated losing.

While they were playing, they began to chat. Illyana had eventually introduced herself somewhere in the middle of the second hand when Tony had asked before the conversation wandered to business. From what Illyana gathered, Tony was some kind of businessman—what with talks of investment and business growth.

They were in the sixth deal when Tony asked, “So what brings you to Pandora, Illyana?”

“What makes you assume I came here? I could be a local,” Illyana replied while studying her hand.

“You’re not a local,” Tony laughed.

Illyana shifted her sight toward him with a frown. He wore a grin as if he knew things she did not. It was the grin of unapologetic confidence, and surprisingly reminiscent of a boy that she once knew—a boy that used to be her friend but she no longer talked to.

“How would you know?” she challenged.

“Pandoran locals tend to have a little…wildness…about them. If you come around enough you can easily tell a local from a tourist.”

“And which are you?” Illyana snapped, to know and be sure.

“Certainly not a local, though I’ve been down here enough times they are starting to know who I am.”

That answer prompted Mags to laugh and Tony eyed her, “What? The same could be said for you. I know you are here at least every weekend, young lady.”

“Pandora is where the excitement is,” Mags laid her discard hand in front of Taz and he swiped them into a pile with the others and exchanged those for a new set.

“Or rather, the money,” Tony amended for her.

The two exchanged a smile that had a hidden meaning and was lost on Illyana but she could tell they were both on the wealthier side if they spent their free time gambling every weekend. Especially If they all had piles of chips worth 500 simoleons a pop.

“So where are you from then?” Tony went back to questioning Illyana; he must have decided that she could never be a local girl with or without her confirmation.

“Isla Del Kashmire,” Illyana admitted and exchanged her discards for new ones.

“I grew up there, it’s a boring little community that judges people too harshly,” Mags stated and put her discard down for Taz to exchange as well.

Sure, Isla Del Kashmire didn’t have a lot of draws—it consisted mostly of residences. Though, it had a few small local businesses—a bakery, a dance studio, a coffee shop—it wasn’t all bad. Unfortunately, since the community was quite small, gossip spread like wildfire. That is why Illyana couldn’t wait to graduate and try getting an apartment in Scandalica City where the real action was.

“Don’t sound so bitter,” Tony seemed to tease but Mags wasn’t having any more of it and threw him a look that clearly told him to drop the subject.

Illyana received her cards back and had nothing worth betting on, much to her disappointment—just a pair of fives. Though…they didn’t know that. She pushed in half a stack of chips—not even caring anymore since they were on loan and Tony didn’t seem to mind.

Her move got all of their attention but she practiced a facial move she liked to call ’the Schoulsburg’ on account that’s always how her fellow student looked. Blank and emotionless.

None of them raised the bet further and cut their losses by folding. When it was time to show hands, Tony was astonished he had fallen for her bluff. Taz could have even beaten her if he hadn’t tapped out because he had a pair of tens, which were higher.

“I’m done for the night,” Mags declared much to Tony and Taz’s whining and pleading for her to stay, “Oh shush, you boys know I’ll be back next weekend. I always am.”

“Be sure to give your husband my condolences since you lost yet another small fortune of his money tonight,” Taz called as Maggie pulled a cigarette out of her purse and flipped him off on her way out of the casino. There still there was a hint of teasing in his voice, though the statement had sounded quite rude to Illyana. It didn’t seem like anything he said was to be taken seriously, but maybe Mags was just tired of it.


Alarie had gotten done with craps and was waiting for Illyana. Illyana held up her finger to indicate she needed a moment.

“Well, thanks to you I have quite a bit more money tonight. You sure you aren’t a lucky charm?” Tony approached her and left the chips on the table.

“I just win once I put my mind to it,” Illyana boldly stated. Obviously, she couldn’t have known she would win all those hands but liked to think it was because of her determination. She turned an eye onto Alarie who was suddenly chatting up Taz behind them.

“Thanks for spotting me the chips, it was fun,” Illyana said, turning her attention back to Tony. They walked down the stairs together and Illyana wondered why he wasn’t taking all of his chips.

“You’re welcome and don’t worry–I’ll have a casino employee take the chips to the teller booth and convert the winnings. It’s part of being a VIP guest,” Tony explained because Illyana’s question was plain on her face as she eyed all that potential money. “You want a drink?”

“What?” Illyana’s attention snapped to him immediately.

“Can. I. Buy. You. A. Drink?” Tony said slower and more pointedly with a patient smile.

Was this makeup stuff really so powerful that it caused rich, handsome, men to offer her free drinks? She still seemed dumbfounded but broke out of staring stupidly at Tony when she caught sight of Alarie behind him, nodding vigorously with encouragement.

“Y…yes?”


They made their way to the nearest bar. Taz and Alarie followed. Apparently Alarie had scored a free drink as well. If Rafael were there, he would have been losing it fast at the sight of her being so flirty. But Alarie always maintained the fact she was doing it more for the free stuff than the man behind it, which barely put Rafael at ease.

“What’s your poison?” Tony asked, leaning up against the bar.

“Vodka.”

“Sweet or savory?”

Illyana bit her lip and smiled slyly, “Savory.”

Tony flagged down the bartender and ordered two Bloody Mary cocktails for them. Alarie went with something more simple and Taz bought her a beer.

“So you have really only played poker on the computer then?” Tony wondered.

“Yeah. I’m a college student. I really can’t afford to gamble with real money,” Illyana said and sipped her drink steadily.

“Then why are you in a casino?” He arched an eyebrow with wonder.

“I drove a friend here and she’s at the Edric King concert tonight. The tickets were sold out so I’m just hanging around with my other friend there,” Illyana pointed over her shoulder at Alarie who was laughing at one of Taz’s jokes.

It didn’t seem fair that Tony was learning all this stuff about her but she didn’t know anything about him but from pieces of conversations he'd had. “So, what do you do for work?”

“I’m an investor and a business risk assessor—they call me in when a business wants to be publicly traded on the stock market and I gather all the information I can and let the investors know if it’s worth buying stock in.”

“Wow…” Illyana didn’t know what to say, “That sounds…important.”

He laughed heartily, “It probably sounds really boring to you.”

She shook her head and set her drink on the bar top, “I asked because I wanted to know.”

“And now you do. By the way, what is your major? You said you were in college?”

“Yeah. I’m a literature major. I write for the music section of the campus newspaper—I want to get into music journalism.”

“But you couldn’t even get into an Edric King concert?” Tony laughed, still teasing.

“It was sold out weeks ago!” Illyana retorted in defense, causing Tony to laugh harder. He had a nice laugh…it wasn’t annoying or obnoxious or full of ridicule though sometimes his words could sound like that. When he stopped laughing it always faded to a smile. He had good teeth too. He had a good face. Alarie wasn’t wrong in her assessment, Tony was cute.

They continued chatting and drinking. The conversation came around to music and Illyana enthusiastically recounted her days of playing guitar and listening to her favorite metal songs her aunt had introduced her to. Tony admitted that he went through a metal phase in high school and wore spiky bracelets and leather vests. His admission caused Illyana to go into peals of laughter, trying to imagine this clean-cut business type jamming out to old Iron Maiden records.

“As much fun as this is, I need to go make sure my chips were collected and the funds transferred to my account,” Tony said, as he finished off his second bloody mary and left the empty glass for the bartender to collect.

“I can make sure too,” Illyana said, not thinking through her words since she too, had gotten a second bloody mary and was feeling tipsy. All she knew was that she enjoyed talking to Tony and she didn’t want to leave him just yet. “I can tell them I won it for you.”

Tony broadly smiled and then gestured for Illyana to follow. They walked to the teller booth where Tony spoke with the associate and then the associate started laying out thick stacks of simoleons.

Illyana’s eyes widened at seeing such a sight. She’d never seen so much money before in her life! How loaded was this guy exactly?

“Count it,” Tony demanded.

“With her here?” The man behind the counter looked at her unsure about starting.

“She’s fine,” Tony assured and the teller started counting, “She actually won a majority of it for me tonight.”

Illyana was starting to feel the buzz from the vodka wear off by the time the man got to the seventy-eighth stack. Tony looked pleased and was nodding to himself while grinning in approval.

“That’s great. Transfer all of it into the Exetto account for me, thank you,” Tony instructed. The associate nodded and started to take the stacks of simoleons into the back. Illyana felt kind of tired and made a yawn; she wondered how late it was. She wondered how many free drinks Alarie had scored off of poor Taz.


“Now,” Tony began and turned to her, boldly slipping his arm around her shoulder, “What do you say we find someplace more private to chat?”

Illyana would have been fine with talking more with him but the sudden physical aspect he’d involved set alarm bells off in her head. This was the moment Alarie had been convinced would help Illayana overcome her heartbreak but—despite Tony's laugh, humor, and obvious wealth—Illyana didn’t feel up for it. And sure, Tony was as handsome as any young businessman they expected to be lurking around the casino on a weekend but it didn’t make up for the fact that Illyana wasn’t emotionally ready for anything as sudden, impersonal, and messy as a one-night stand.

“Thank you, for everything—but I’m going to decline,” she said and maneuvered herself away. A split-second later he re-attached his arm behind her back, this time his fingers slightly gripped her waist.

“I like a girl who plays hard to get, don’t get me wrong,” he said, causing Illyana to frown and halt, “So how about I sweeten the pot? I’ll give you a quarter of what you won for me tonight.”

“For what, exactly?”

“What do you think?” he raised a suggestive brow and said in a tone that told her enough of what he was trying to get.

Illyana’s gag reflex threatened to strike and her expression plummeted into a glower. Thankfully the amount of blush Alarie had put on her cheeks hid her crimson face mixed with sudden anger and embarrassment.

“No,” she said, her voice turning hard and she again, maneuvered herself away from his grasp, this time making it not so subtle she wanted him to fuck the fuck off.

“Come on…” she heard him let out in a tone of exasperation at her refusal. She shuddered and didn’t respond as she left him behind. She was disappointed that she had wasted her time with such a self-entitled jerk.

The next thing she felt was both of his hands grab at her hips to reel her back toward him and before she could think, she whirled around and decked him in the mouth. The blow was hard—harder than either of them expected because Tony went down easily. Illyana had been spending a lot of time at the punching bag recently. Her knuckles were like wood.

It took Illyana a second to realize what reality was. She looked down at Tony’s form; his lip was busted open and bleeding and he wasn’t moving.

“Boss!” exclaimed the man behind the counter, who had seen the whole incident.

Boss!?

Oh.

Oh no.

This was bad. No wonder he had been so unconcerned about lending her the chips to play at such a high-stakes table–she was gambling it all back into the house if she were to lose it to him! So, he must have been lying about his stupid boring investment job to impress her. What an Asshole!

She bolted without another thought and turned the corner to find Alarie still chatting and drinking with Taz at the bar.


“Let’s Go!” Illyana prompted Alarie urgently and Alarie handed her drink to Taz.

“What are—?”

“Come on!” Illyana was openly panicking, as she looked behind her. She didn’t have time for Alarie to ask questions; Illyana needed to get off of that casino floor. Luckily, no angry man was lurking out from behind the wall, which meant Tony was still prone on the ground. She turned without another word and started running toward the elevators. Her urgency and lack of explanation must have pricked Alarie’s senses to bail for she could hear Alarie suddenly behind her, taking long, brisk strides and maintaining balance, even in her ridiculous spiked wedge-heel boots.

“Why are we running?” Alarie scowled in question, keeping pace just behind Illyana.

“I punched him in the face!” Illyana cried.

“What? Why?”

“I’ll tell you once we’re outta here,” she replied and finally, finally made it to the elevator. Illyana pushed the up button frantically over and over though she knew that it wouldn’t make it arrive any quicker. It made her feel like she was doing something to actively further the distance between her and Tony.

She dared to look over her shoulder.

From their line of sight, they could see the teller and Taz crouching next to Tony and Tony was slowly rousing.

The doors opened and Illyana darted inside, grabbing Alarie’s wrist and pulling her in behind. She could see now that Tony had sat up, though still was on sitting on the floor; his dazed, wandering, gaze landed on Illyana and their eyes connected as the doors were closing and narrowing their view of each other.

An ominous shiver ran up her spine as he licked the blood off his lip and then smiled before the elevator doors closed.